Faucet



Jan. 20, 1931; I c RlEGGER 1,789,476 7 I FAUCET Fi led Oct. 10. 1929 5 A TTORNEYS.

. -Patenied jan- 0 he sheri d i noated cominirm it the area of flow-preventing contact between I the gate and seat to such an extent that the valve, as ordinarily manipulated by the average user of household faucets, closes water-c tight even when the seat end of the port is broken, cut or pitted through, from side to side, for an easily measurable and readily apparent depth.- Ordinarily at least, I contemplatethat'thejend of the port will be flared outwardly, usually along a smooth 'curve leading off tangentially from the straight-sided or cylindricalpart of theport as and preferably, by the use of the i cushion of soft resilient material, thereby )IOVldlD" a uite ade' uate mass or volume of such material for my' purposes.

By suitable correlation -of the factors noted, the area of the flow-preventing engagement of the gate with its seat can be extended even into the straight-sidedor cylindrical portion of the port. By way of illustrating the efli'cacy of my invention, I may I mention that I have, for test purposes, cut or kerfed the annular seat or projection of an ordinary household water faucet completely through,"from side to side, to adepth of cabof an inch, and I have found-that the way, as will be apparent,

cushions of my invention are adequate to close watertight the faucet so mutilated.

To reduce the tendency of the valve to produce hammering and other noises, I preferably make the smaller end of the cushion as small as; may be, and preferably extend the concavity of the washer side to this smallest diameter; where the cushion is held to the valve stem by a screw (as ,in the common household faucet) I preferably make the smaller end of the, cushion of the same diameter as thehead of the screw. Thereby I provide a smoothly curving path for the water flowing from the valve port when the gate is raised, and reduce the tendency of'the' water to throw the washer or cushion violently out from the port and vibrate it, as a loosely set washer screw or a worn or badly formed screw thread may permit otherwise.

The rounded head usually foundon the p to extend the area of the seating of my cushion'on the partition 9 somewhat farther 'downinto the port 3. Also to somewhat increase the mass or volume of'the material I still farther, and to improve the seating at washer screwof faucets cooperates to the same end with a cushion so formed, forming therewith a compound curve for'the water- The accompanying d awings: illustrate a preferred embodiment of my invention. Fig. 7

1 is a vertical section through a common form of household water faucet with one of my cushions substituted for the moreusual form of washer,the cushion being shown in elevation. Fig. 2 is a detail .of Fig. 1, to a larger 1 scale, the cushion and adjacent part of the valvestembeing shown in section. Fig; 3is

. similar toFig. 2, but shows the gate seated.

The familiar screw or compression type of household water faucet illustrated will be recognized from the drawings and needs little 7 description. The water enters at the threaded end 1 and fiows from the bibb 2 when the valve gate 1s raised. The valve port heretofore mentioned, circular in section and for I the mostpait cylindrical as usual, is shown at 3; the sem1-circularly-sectioned project ingannulus at. and forming the gate end of the port is indicated by 4, its'inner curve or surface blending tangentially into the of the stein to receive andconfine the washer or cushion 11, the latter being held therein by the screw 13. The cap 14, surrounding the stem 6 and confining the-stem to the valve body, is threaded to the body externally, as is also common practice. Y

i The recess 12 beingdesigned to receive the common fiat disc washer, no change need be made in the metal portions ofsuch a faucet as that illustrated when applying my invention thereto the diameter of the larger end of the circular cushion 11 involved in my invention, that is to say, the face which engages the end of the stem 6, may be'equal'to the diameter of the flatdisc washer or the truncated cone which'it displaces, so that the new cushion '11 fits in the same recess. Preferably I make the diameter of the oppositeand smaller end of the cushion of the same diameter as the head of'the Washer-screw 13 as before noted.

The lengthor thickness'of my cushion 11,

i. e. the dimension of my cushion from the v smaller face to the larger, may be about equal to the corresponding dimension of the prior be substituted, but usuallyI make it a little greater so-as to somewhat enlarge the mass or volume of the material in my cushion and thetop by carrying this seating somewhat farther over, or externally of, the apex of the annulus l, I usually somewhat increase the length of the straight-sided or cylindristraight-sided and cylindrical portion of the a frequently the practice, a circular flat-bot- I tomed recess 12 is provided in the lower end iii) loo

truncated-conical washer for which it may) calportion at the larger end of the cushion 9 (i. e. thedimension'17,Fig; 2) up to about twice the depth of'the recess 12 as illus- 'trated, departing in this respect also from common practice with truncated-cone washfor example, according to customary [less after-the fashion of the common flat 71ers. Between the two .;diarii eters,thatjistofl I say, in that portion ofthe cushion'whichis' 1 to engage with the partition 9 atftheyport 3} to close thefaucet, thegsidewall or 'wallsqof the cushion are-ooncaved as. appears best" in Fig. 2. This'gjconcavingneed be but slight;

practice the maximum distance to which the i 'concaved surface departsfrom an imaginary;

straight line drawnfrompoint 18 to, point 19 on the washer (i. eithe broken line shown on Fig. 2) is of the orderof from l/(iath of an inch to ggnd ofan inch; "In accordance with the preference heretofore expressed, the whole bodyof this cushion 11 is composed of yi d ide h' c ii e" t eslgat 'ot Y e', at s en whic 611 1 @ia etergr e an i,v

V a d" curvature orconcavity in the cushion side 1 i 1 C or sides andthe mass or'volume offmaterial 7 at hand, the cushion not only makes flowpreventing engagement with the extreme end of the valve port;(i. e. by pressingdownwardly on the apex of the annulus 4: in the 1.

direction of the arrows'22 in Fig. 2,"more or disc wisher) but alsothe cushion makes flowpreventingengagement against the partition 9 from thence to a pointiwithin the cylindri- .cal portion 'of' the 'port 3, the 1 cushion throughout this distance pressing radially outwardlyagainst the port wall at each point in the general directions indicatedby the arrows 23 of Fig. -2.- As ,aresult of this co Y ordination of these factors also, the cushion mmay seatin effective'engagernent with the )partition 9 for some little distance exter pipes and other noises;-

--.nally of thea 'pex ofjthe annulus 'l. A typical seating of the cushion, according to my invention, is shown inFig. Usually I em.-

ploy a rubber compound for thematerial of the cushion, that is to say, a mixtu'reof rub- I her and foreign matter, providing :atthe same time for thatfdegree of toughness which is necessary in faucet washers; miXtures' of rubber and foreign -matters having suitable 1 characteristics of softness and resiliency, to

gether with toughness, will be readily devised bythoseskilled in the'artanticipate that" various mixtures and'various materials will be developed.

As is apparent in the cushion side fromthehe'ad'ofthe screw 13 to the :point 18, all Qaroundjthe cushion,

provides a maximum of smoothly curvingpath, at the side of the cushion, for the water,-

portion of theinterior wall'of the port,'press-, inglradially outwardly against said interior 1 I V flowing fromjthe port '3 when the "gate is raised. At, the same time, the rounded-head; of the screw 13, blending into this concavityand continuing the curve farther into-the} port, aids, I'Tbelieve in reducing the tendency H hammering in the; T terial sufliciently soft to yield .underfthecom-fl of the faucet to produce from Fig. 2, the concavity 7i1 wh hi l e us feces ,fauceth'aving a rigid projecting substantialw uh aiwete-ii ic bii the a es th:

side wall of the'cushion, at '7 I v ly semi 'circularly-sectioned annulusforming 1 the'gate-end ofa cylindrical p0rt,1a'=screwthread-operated' stein, and ra substantiallyround-headed' screw' to hold the cushion pressed toits seat by the faucetstem, not only.

. ,1 5 1 washerto the endof said stem, of a circular cushion washer consisting of a resilientzmaterial sufficiently soft to yield underthe compression normally ,given they gates-of such faucets in closing them, the CUShi0I1 haVing, at its endijwhich 'engages with said stem, a'{ V 7 diameter greater. than the diameterflofflthe'l l 'flgate end-zofsaid port, atits oPPOS ite end ai I 3 "diameter not less than'the diameter of the. head of said washer'fscrew,andfia concavecurved side wall j oining'the said two diam-- eters, the depth of said curvature, the softness of said material, and resiliency be-.

ing. I so correlated that the cushion, {when I ment with .said'annulus,lbutalso inakeslfioW-j f l preventing engagement with the cylindrical cushion h.r for hzaiho useheld wa g ng 15 y L curvature, the softness of sand materlal, and

7 one end a substantially flat face to engage to substantially thedi'afne ter' of the en "of pression normally given the gates of such faucets in closing them, said body having at the end of the stem, at its opposite end'a diameter less than the diameter of theport" with which the cushion washer is to be used, a cylindrical portion adjacent said flat face, the diameter of which portion is at least e ual said 'port, :and'a portion having a concavecurvedsidewall extending from said cylindrical portion to substantially saidsmaller end ofthe body, the 'body being perforated axiallyto receive a screw to fasten the body to thefaucet stem,*and the depth of said its resiliency being so Correlated thatithe cushion can make not only flow-preventing substantially-face-contact engagement with the ordinary substantially-semi-circularlysectioned annular projection commonly providing the gate end offau'cet 'ports, but also flow-preventing engagement with the interior wall of the port from substantially the gate end of the portft'o a point a material distance away fromsaid end of the port, pressing v radially outwardly against said interior wall.

4. The subject matter of claim 3, characterized by the fact that the diameter of the said cylindrical portion of thecircular body is greaterthan the diameter of said gate end of the faucet'port. d

In testimony whereof, I have "signed this specification. i v

' CONSTANTIN R IEGGER 

